Junko Shigio, Record Series, Miscellaneous Family History, Public Welfare/Social Security Department, (Japanese Internment) Assistance Cases, Evacuee Referrals for Resettlement and Assistance, 1945-1946, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov.
In 1942, four-year-old Washington resident Junko Shigio was considered a threat to national security and sent with her family to the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho for the duration of the Second World War. Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt on February 19th 1942, authorized the rounding up of all persons of Japanese ancestry living along the west coast of the United States. Throughout California, Oregon, and Washington State, Japanese Americans were given days or sometimes mere hours to prepare for their long-term stay in the camps. Some did not pack warm clothing for the Idaho winters, or even have time to secure the personal property they left behind.
Crowds gathering at Red Gate entrance, Record Series, Photographs, Spokane City Planning Department EXPO'74 Photographic Collection, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov
In 1974, Spokane became the smallest city to ever host a World's Fair. The community used the opportunity to re-vitalize the depressed downtown district. The Great Northern Railroad Depot, which had occupied the centrally located Havermale Island for the better part of a century, was torn down. In its place, Spokanites erected many buildings and planned outdoor spaces, the seeds of which would later become Riverfront Park.
